How many properties should you look at?
Discussion
And has anyone every brought the first place they looked at?!?
I started looking this weekend to buy my first flat and found a very nice one that's just been finished to a very high quality. Would I be foolish to consider it or should I keep looking? It just seems to be exactly what I had in mind when I started. Can it really be THAT easy?
I started looking this weekend to buy my first flat and found a very nice one that's just been finished to a very high quality. Would I be foolish to consider it or should I keep looking? It just seems to be exactly what I had in mind when I started. Can it really be THAT easy?
In the words of the old sherry advert, you instinctively know when something is right. Works for residential property, also works for commercial property. If it ticks all the other boxes for price, style, size, location, local amenities etc, and it feels right, then it will be the one for you.
First house I bought was the first I looked at.
Second was about the 6th or 7th, and only then after we'd been gazumped on one we were going to buy.
At the end of the day we sat there and made a list of what we were looking for, then went throught the particulars with this in mind. 3 piles:- Bin, nearly there, let's view.
In the end we bought a house which lacked 2 of our 6 priorities but the second we went in the door it felt right. Same feeling on second viewing and almost every time I get home.
Second was about the 6th or 7th, and only then after we'd been gazumped on one we were going to buy.
At the end of the day we sat there and made a list of what we were looking for, then went throught the particulars with this in mind. 3 piles:- Bin, nearly there, let's view.
In the end we bought a house which lacked 2 of our 6 priorities but the second we went in the door it felt right. Same feeling on second viewing and almost every time I get home.
Hmmm, now I'm 
as I really do think this could be my new home! I'm still waiting for my boss to get back to me on a payrise so I can talk to some mortgage lenders. I can afford it on my current salary but some extra income each month would be a bonus 
This is all happening a lot quicker than I imagined! I wasn't planning on buying till the summer really but this place I looked at is just so perfect! Only thing against it is that it's not as close to work as I would have liked (however it's only 7 miles compared to my current 25 miles trek). But if that's the only thing......
Oh decisions, decisions! Time for a second viewing I think!
I sell companies for a living and I regularly meet with pschologists to talk about body language and various other things.
Point being, there is, apparently, an in-built mechanism in many people not to buy the first one they view (be that cars, houses, business, etc.)
My advice, buy it before someone else does if it's right for you.
Point being, there is, apparently, an in-built mechanism in many people not to buy the first one they view (be that cars, houses, business, etc.)
My advice, buy it before someone else does if it's right for you.
We bought the first house I saw. I began looking, thinking that perhaps in six months time I'd have the money to be serious about it. The first house I saw had that 'feel', so by the weekend I'd lined another dozen houses up to compare and dragged my gf around them all. We went back to the first one and chose it. Nine years later we're only just moving on.
You've got to have a good feeling about a house - you never know what might happen in the future, so the last thing you want to have in the back of your mind is that you made some sort of compromise when you decided to buy it. Do get out and compare with other places - if nothing else it should give you the best idea of the market and what you should be paying. Even if it's your dream house, there's no point in paying over the odds.
Good luck with the choice, hope you do well in your new home.
You've got to have a good feeling about a house - you never know what might happen in the future, so the last thing you want to have in the back of your mind is that you made some sort of compromise when you decided to buy it. Do get out and compare with other places - if nothing else it should give you the best idea of the market and what you should be paying. Even if it's your dream house, there's no point in paying over the odds.
Good luck with the choice, hope you do well in your new home.
Yup, I bought the first one. I was renting a flat at the time and was very happy apart from the fact I was paying more than a mortgage would have costed and getting nothing (long term) for it. A flat in the same street directly opposite me came up for sale. I went over that night, had a 10 min poke about and told them then I'd ring the estate agent in the morning to place the offer.
Thinking about it when I've bought cars I've always bought the first one I've gone to see at the first viewing too.
I need to learn some restraint...
Thinking about it when I've bought cars I've always bought the first one I've gone to see at the first viewing too.
I need to learn some restraint...
Depends if you know the area and you have done your homework..on the location,location,location mantra I have bought 3 different houses without looking at others elsewhere...If the price is right for what it is you can change things like decor,bathrooms etc....just not easy to make yourself more accesible to mainline railways, open land & pubs etc...
I also bought the first house I looked at, without even looking upstairs (). Walked in through the front door, loved it, offered there and then, still here 3 1/2 years later and still love it.
sometimes you "just know". It might also be something to do with being selective with what you go to view. My only criterion was a garage, and other than that just looked at the pics until I saw one I liked the look of. Seeing the living room as it was makes me marvel at my "vision"...
(yes, that is a drum kit in the living room, and the carpet was the first thing to go)
). Walked in through the front door, loved it, offered there and then, still here 3 1/2 years later and still love it. sometimes you "just know". It might also be something to do with being selective with what you go to view. My only criterion was a garage, and other than that just looked at the pics until I saw one I liked the look of. Seeing the living room as it was makes me marvel at my "vision"...
(yes, that is a drum kit in the living room, and the carpet was the first thing to go)
Go on gut feeling.
If you view a house and love it, then that's the house to go for.
Always try to negotiate a lower price but keep your sights on the fact that you want to buy it.
- and use a survey as a negotiating tool, as well as an essential way to ensure that you're not letting yourself in for loads of unexpected expense.
A survey is an independant report and so you can use this as a reason to get the price down a bit, rather than let it get personal.
If you view a house and love it, then that's the house to go for.
Always try to negotiate a lower price but keep your sights on the fact that you want to buy it.
- and use a survey as a negotiating tool, as well as an essential way to ensure that you're not letting yourself in for loads of unexpected expense.
A survey is an independant report and so you can use this as a reason to get the price down a bit, rather than let it get personal.
This is one big thing (for me anyways) that this flat has in it's favour, it's a new build, which I prefer That means they'll pay a lot of the fees involved with buying: solicitors fees, £200 a month off your mortgage for the first year, 5% deposit etc (although I currently have £8k saved up for this). Also you get a 10 year guarantee on the place and they include all the appliances, carpets of your choice etc. And most importantly you get your own parking place, off road, right outside your flat
Thing is I'm going to have to act quickly as there's only 1 remaining (although they only built 2 in my price range in the first place).
That means they'll pay a lot of the fees involved with buying: solicitors fees, £200 a month off your mortgage for the first year, 5% deposit etc (although I currently have £8k saved up for this). Also you get a 10 year guarantee on the place and they include all the appliances, carpets of your choice etc. And most importantly you get your own parking place, off road, right outside your flat Thing is I'm going to have to act quickly as there's only 1 remaining (although they only built 2 in my price range in the first place).
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